Isabella Lucy BirdIsabella Bird was a British author, traveller, photographer, and naturalist. She was born in England on 15 October 1831. She was sick most of her life so her doctor necessarily gave her an instruction to travel. With 100 pounds given to her by her clric father, Bird travelled Canada and the United States. During her journeys, she wrote to her sister about her experiences and produced on that material for her first book. Bird travelled to Japan, China, Tibet, Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam before returning to Britain to marry Dr. John Bishop, a surgeon. Her refined observations have been entertaining readers for over a century. She was the first woman to be chose Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. She became one of the most popular travel writers of the 19th century. Bird is very observant, and especially for her time, very compassionate, open-minded, and well-mannered in many ways, she is accessible for the modern reader to relate to, including the wide gulf in time and culture that separate us. She died in Edinburgh on 7 October 1904. Read More Read Less